Sunderland were beaten 3-1 by Fulham on Sunday afternoon.
Former Premier League striker Stan Collymore has jumped to Sunderland’s defence in the wake of their 3-1 defeat against Fulham on Sunday afternoon, claiming that there is “zero chance” of the Black Cats being sucked into a relegation battle this season, despite their recent dip in form.
Regis Le Bris’ men failed to find their rhythm in a lacklustre showing against the Cottagers at the Stadium of Light, succumbing to a third-consecutive Premier League defeat courtesy of a Raul Jimenez brace and a late sucker-punch from Alex Iwobi.
The result means that Sunderland have won just two of their past seven top flight outings, leaving them 11 points clear of the relegation zone with 11 games left to play. For his part, Le Bris has maintained from the beginning of the campaign that his goal for the season is to amass 40 points - a tally that his side could reach with one win and one draw over the coming weeks.
But despite a growing consensus amongst many pundits that Sunderland have likely done enough already to ensure their Premier League status next term, Collymore still felt the need to back the Black Cats publicly after a Fulham supporter suggested to him online that the North East outfit could be in danger of going down this year.
What did Stan Collymore say about Sunderland’s survival chances?
A Fulham fan then responded claiming that Collymore should “keep an eye” on Sunderland, to which the 55-year-old replied: “Sunderland fans will remember I had them to go down at the start of the season (but hoped they wouldn't), and they've been stellar until this recent downturn. But you give me 36 points as a player with 11 to play and I'm confident we'd get to 40+ points. I'm sticking my neck out. Zero chance Sunderland go down. None.”
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What has Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris said about recent dip in form?
Speaking after Sunday’s defeat on Wearside, Le Bris sought to play down the extent to which his side’s recent dip in form is a matter of concern. He said: “In the Premier League, it's not unusual for us and for every team in the league.
“You can be in the top six and you can have a long sequence of poor results, I think we are now in this part of the journey. Resilience, togetherness, consistency, standards - It's always the same values we need and we won't give up. Obviously it's a bit harder, but the journey is always defined like that by key moments. They were negative today. We'll try to find a way to change the situation.
“At the moment, we express less quality with the ball. We are a bit less dominant against direct play as well for the second balls. The momentum can shift sometimes just with one situation because both teams are ready to impose their ideas after those moments. Today we were just okay, not dominant, especially at home. We left an opportunity for the opponent to express their qualities.”
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